Family name origins & meanings
- English : habitational name from places in Hampshire and Shropshire named Elson. The former is named from the Old English personal name Æ{dh}elswī{dh} (composed of the elements æ{dh}el ‘noble’ + swī{dh} ‘strong’) + Old English tūn ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’; the latter from the genitive case of the Old English personal name Elli (see Ellington) + Old English tūn ‘settlement’ or dūn ‘hill’.
- English : variant spelling of Ellson.
- Jewish (Ashkenazic) : patronymic from the Yiddish male personal name Elye, from Hebrew Eliyahu ‘Elijah’ (see Elias).